Streaming services see rise in subscription cycling, new data shows

The practice of pausing and resuming streaming subscriptions is becoming more common among U.S. consumers, according to new data from subscription analytics firm Antenna.

The monthly median percentage of premium streaming video subscribers who reactivated their canceled services within 12 months reached 34.2% in the first nine months of 2024, up from 29.8% in 2022.

This cycling behavior affects how subscription cancellation rates, or churn, should be interpreted. While the average U.S. customer cancellation rate for premium streaming services hit 5.2% in August, the adjusted rate drops to 3.5% when accounting for returning subscribers.

Between September 2023 and August 2024, premium streaming video services recorded approximately 169 million new subscriptions. Of these, 57 million, or 34%, were from customers rejoining services they had previously canceled within the past year.

The data indicates varying resubscription patterns across platforms. Max reported that 31% of its U.S. customers have subscribed multiple times, the highest rate among premium streaming services. Apple TV+ followed with 29% of U.S. customers having multiple subscription periods since 2020.

According to Antenna’s analysis, Netflix maintains the highest percentage of single-subscription customers who have not canceled since 2020.

The trend reflects evolving consumer behavior as households manage multiple streaming subscriptions. Some viewers maintain year-round subscriptions to certain services while cycling others based on content releases.

Streaming services are responding to this behavior with various retention strategies. Hulu offers subscription pause options of up to three months through a dropdown menu. Netflix provides similar pause capabilities. Disney+ plans to introduce a subscription pause feature, according to a source familiar with the company’s plans.

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The data suggests that sports programming and high-budget series influence resubscription patterns. Services with significant sports content, such as Paramount+ and Peacock, show higher rates of multiple-subscription customers.

The findings indicate that traditional churn metrics may need adjustment to reflect customer retention in the streaming market accurately. While cancellations remain a key industry concern, the frequency of resubscriptions suggests many cancellations are temporary rather than permanent losses.

Antenna calculates net churn by subtracting resubscriptions from cancellations in a given month and dividing by the previous month’s total subscribers. This method provides an alternative to standard churn calculations that do not account for returning customers.